


Count Down

by ACuckoo



Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 03:56:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3275771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACuckoo/pseuds/ACuckoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a sudden and unexpected death. But while the Investigation Team is reeling from the death of one of their own, a new attendant shows up in the Velvet Room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Count Down

_“Hey. I’m over here.”_

 

“We were together and then….” 

 

_“I’m right here. I’m in front of you! Look!”_

 

“And then we weren’t.” 

 

_“The castle. It’s the castle. Go to the castle!”_

 

“Somehow he had separated from us.” 

 

_“I’m on one of the upper floors. I don’t know which one. But I’m here.”_

 

“We looked for him, but… We couldn’t find him.” 

 

_“It’s a cramped room. I don’t like it. Take me home, okay?”_

 

“I thought I heard him calling to me.” 

 

_“Can you do that? That’s all I want. I just want to go home. Or as close to home as I can get.”_

 

“I thought I heard him saying that he was cold.” 

 

_“The castle is cold. I don’t like the cold. Come find me. I’m right here. Just look.”_

 

“I…” 

 

Yu drifted off under the harsh gaze of his uncle. He could hear Yosuke’s mother screaming from another room.

“They were the last ones to see him! Ask them! Ask his friends! They were the last ones with him! They were at Junes! Just ask them!” 

So the police were obliged to ask. More than obliged. They had to. All of them were the last ones to see Yosuke alive. Naoto, Chie, Kanji, Yukiko, Rise, Teddie, and Yu. 

“Please ask… Please ask….” Yosuke’s mother’s pleas trailed off into a wail. It was all Yu could do to not cover his ears. She sobbed and cried and screamed for her little boy to come back to her. 

Yu wanted to tell the truth. He wanted to confess everything, but he couldn’t.

 

_“Don’t worry about the security cameras. No one will see you taking me out of the TV. I won’t let you take the fall for this, partner.”_

 

Dojima didn’t believe him when he first tried to tell him about the TV world. He wouldn’t believe him now. Or would he? Now that Yosuke was involved. Now that the son of the owner of the prominent department store was found dead in the outskirts of town.

 

_“I… I guess… Just put me somewhere. I mean…” There was a chuckle, but it was far from happy. “It doesn’t matter where I’m at, right? They’ll find me. They’ll find me and put me where I belong.”_

 

Would he believe him? If all of their stories were the same would he believe him about the TV world? Would he believe Yosuke died defending them? Would he believe Yosuke spoke to Yu after he had died to help them find him?

 

_“Ghosting.” Margaret had said. “It’s called ghosting. Much like how you can hear the voices of those who were killed by their shadows, you can do the same with those who’ve awakened to their personas. Listen to him. He’ll help you find him.”_

 

Three hours and fifteen minutes. It had taken them three hours and fifteen minutes to search the upper floors of Yukiko’s castle and find him. 

 

“If there’s anything you’re not telling me, Yu….” 

 

He could hear the distrust in his uncle’s voice. He could hear the concern, too. He could hear the sadness. He could hear him asking Yu for information to help that screaming woman in the other room who lost her only son. 

 

“We separated,” Yu said, sticking to the story he had decided to weave. “And… And now he’s dead.” 

 

_“Rise can’t sense me. There’s nothing to sense. Sorry, partner. I let you down.”_

 

“We let him down. We should have… Kept a better eye on him.” 

 

_“Is Yukiko okay? Are you okay? That monster was coming right for you! Good thing I was there, right? Hah!”_

 

“One moment he was there, and the next… Disappeared.” 

 

_“It flew away with me so fast. Naoto’s persona tried to keep up, but we never came across a creature so fast. Jiraiya too. He tried, Yu. He tried up until the last moments.”_

 

“Stupid frog….” 

 

“What?” Dojima shook his head, tossing down his pencil in defeat. That was it. There was nothing else to get from Yu. There was nothing else to get from the rest of his friends either. They were all too in shock. He had told them they didn’t have to look at the body. It had already been identified by Mr and Mrs. Hanamura. There was no need. 

 

“One last goodbye,” Yu had said. 

 

_“It’s not a pretty sight. That monster did a number on me. Tell Rise not to look. Yukiko too. Chie most of all. I think she’ll take it the hardest. She won’t be able to look at me.”_

 

Dojima let them all go, escorting them to the doors of the police department where Mr. And Mrs. Hanamura were waiting. 

 

“C-come on, Teddie.” Mrs. Hanamura held her hand out to him, a soft, sad smile on her face. 

 

_“Make sure my mom doesn’t blame you guys, okay. Make sure she still takes care of Teddie.”_

 

“You can stay with your friends if you want. I know you want to be with them too. It’s good to… To be with people right now.” 

 

But Teddie took her hand, looking back at Yu only once before embracing her tightly. 

 

_“Make sure Dad doesn’t blame you guys either. Everyone will know you were the last ones to see me. Make sure they know none of this is your fault.”_

 

“I don’t think Yosuke’s ever had friends that he’s liked more than you guys.” Mr. Hanamura looked at each and every one them, etching the faces of his son’s best friends into his head. “Come by tomorrow. We’ll… We’ll have dinner and uhh… Toast. Toast to the memory of my… Of my son.” 

 

Yu nodded, but couldn’t think of anything else to do or to say. There wasn’t much else to do or say. Soon, they would all be interviewed by the police again, soon they would be making jokes about how Yosuke never returned Chie’s DVDs and when he did they were broken. They would make jokes about how he pushed Teddie around during working hours, but also was more lenient with him than anyone else. They would make fun of his hair color…. 

 

It would be fun. 

 

_“I know you’re leaving soon, partner. To go back to the city. Don’t go too far. Okay? Stay close.”_

 

They all went their separate ways. Chie and Yukiko went home together. Naoto graciously walked Rise home which in turn caused Kanji to offer to walk her home. Teddie went home with the Hanamuras, home to the empty room with too many reminders of the one they had lost.

 

And Yu went home on his own. He pulled Yosuke’s headphones and music player out of his pocket, slid the headphones on and listened to the music that poured out of them. He would return them to Yosuke’s parents tomorrow. 

 

 

 


End file.
